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Utility Week 21st June 2019

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4 | 21ST - 27TH JUNE 2019 | UTILITY WEEK Seven days... Russia defies critics to secure gas for Europe Russia is continuing to drill for oil in a remote northern region to secure gas for Europe. The gas from Yamal's Bovanen- kovo field is intended for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a 1,230km project linking Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea that has split Europe and sparked threats of sanc- tions from the US. Critics of the project, due to enter service this year, say it will keep Europe hooked on Russian gas and deprive Ukraine of billions of dollars earned from allowing gas across its territory. Financial Times, 18 June Coal is still king in much of Asia Last week, Norway's parliament voted for its $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund would dump $13 billion of fossil fuel investments – and start investing billions in renewables. But Asia's appetite for coal-fired electricity is keeping coal produc- tion alive. Indian mining group Adani last week announced plans to start work on a A$2bn (£1bn) coal mine in Australia aŽer a decade of opposition from climate campaigners The Guardian, 15 June South America hit by massive power outage A power cut hit Argentina and Uru- guay last week, also affecting parts of Chile and Paraguay. Local media said it began on Sun- day, causing trains to be halted and failures with traffic signalling. The blackout was prompted by a failure in an electrical grid that serves both Argentina and Uruguay. The outage occurred as people in Argentina were preparing to go to the polls for local elections, delaying voting in several regional provinces. BBC News, 17 June National media Southern Water to slash 200 customer service jobs A round 200 customer service jobs are to go at Southern Water's Wor- thing and Falmer offices as part of what a company spokesper- son described as a "challeng- ing business transformation programme" first started two years ago. The company is consulting affected employees and said a "full package of support" would be available to them. Outsourcing giant Capita will take over most of the roles from 1 August. The company was chosen by Southern Water as its new customer services "managed service provider" in July last year in a contract worth more than £30 million. That deal was signed for an initial five-year term with an option to extend for three years. Southern Water said it was making changes to ensure its customer service "remains fit for the future" while keeping "bills affordable". In a statement the com- pany said it was making good progress and had registered its "best ever customer service score in the water industry league table" but there was more to do. Southern Water will consult for 45 days with workers before the transfer. Roles are expected to move to Yorkshire and India and there will be separate consultations on redundancies by Capita, according to union Unison. Caroline Fife, Unison regional organiser said staff were "upset, shocked and angry". She said: "They don't know which group of staff they are in and what is going to happen. Given the short timescale they want to know what is going to happen and what money they will receive so they can plan their lives." Southern Water was placed in the "significant scrutiny" category by Ofwat in its initial assessment of water company PR19 business plans. KP "The price cap took a very large amount of money out of the industry at a time when we are expected to invest an enormous amount of money." Eon-UK's chief executive, Michael Lewis, speaking at Utility Week's Energy Summit event in London. STORY BY NUMBERS Switching attitudes surveyed Research published by the Energy Switch Guarantee has revealed the fre- quency and atti- tudes of energy switchers. 48% of those surveyed said they had switched energy provider in the past four years. 39% of non-switchers said they were happy with their current supplier's service. 83% of customers who had switched said they were happy with the process. 70% reported that they had heard about the price cap. 78% said it would not affect whether they switched.

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